Early morning fire in Canastota (update)

CANASTOTA -- Employees at Prime Materials Recovery called 911 around 5:30 a.m. Friday when a piece of machinery overheated and ignited dust and insulation in the ceiling in one part of the plant.

PMR, located at 51 Madison Blvd. in Canastota, provides assistance to industries such as wire and cable manufacturers, to convert their scrap metal into raw materials for resale and use. The company is headquartererd in East Hartford, Conn. and operates processing facilities in Canastota, Willimantic, Conn., and Orangeburg, S.C.

When Canastota volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene, they were met with thick, black smoke and a few flames around the overheated machinery and the ceiling, said Chief John Massarotti.

Joining Canastota at the scene were fire crews from Lincoln, Wampsville, Chittenango, North Chittenango, Bridgeport, Sylvan Beach, Munnsville and Oneida.

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By 6:24 a.m., the fire had been knocked down and by 8 a.m. some firefighters were still inside quenching hot spots.

Massarotti said that there was minimal damage and that work could continue at the business after cleanup.

All employees had evacuated the building safely before fire crews arrived, Massarotti said.

By 8:30 a.m. employees were busy with cleanup and continuing to work.

"The crews did a great job," Massarotti said, "It could have been a huge disaster."